Today EA Sports announced several new changes and features they will add to the “revolutionary” FIFA 13 game, which is said to be the best game of the franchise’s history. How about we go through all of them? Yeah, sounds good to me!

FIFA 13 you say? Yeah, that’s right!

Earlier today, EA Sports announced a lot of information about the up-coming game in the FIFA series – FIFA 13. They shared the first FIFA 13 in-game screenshots but also new changes and features they will add to what is said to be the best FIFA game EA have ever made!

“We are perfecting the best sports game in the world with innovations that capture all the drama and unpredictability of real-world football. These are game-changing innovations that will revolutionize our artificial intelligence, dribbling, ball control and collisions to create a true battle for possession across the entire pitch, and deliver freedom and creativity in attack.”

These are the words of David Rutter’s, the Executive Producer for FIFA 13, who also worked on FIFA 12, which also brought revolutionary changes and features to the game that today is the most popular football game. I think we can all agree on the fact that despite being the most popular football game in the world, FIFA 12 has been lacking on many parts of the game, but it seems like EA Sports are actually listening to the community to improve the game this time, which alone is a major improvement.

One of the new features in FIFA 13 is the Attacking Intelligence, which enables players to analyse space and work harder and smarter to break down defenses, thinking two steps ahead every time a player has the ball. Players now have the intelligence to help attackers by creating smart chances for them to get closer to the goal. They make smarter moves to pull defenders out of position in order to open a gap for other attackers to exploit and get forward for attacking opportunities.

Another new feature in FIFA 13 is the Complete Dribbling, which is inspired by Barcelona’s Lionel Messi. Complete Dribbling enables players to face their opponent and use precise dribble touches (LT/L1 + RT/R1) together with the 360 degree dribbling that was brought to FIFA 12, to make it easier to be more creative and dangerous in 1v1 chances. By changing directions quicker and make explosive accelerations with the ball, as well as shielding defenders for possession, Complete Dribbling is aimed to improve the dribbling system in the FIFA franchise.

Linked with Complete Dribbling, FIFA13‘s 1st Touch Control changes the way players control the ball. Depending on whatever situation you are in, 1st Touch Control will act differently – if you’re pressured you will have an uncertain touch to the ball whereas you’ll have a certain touch if you’re in the clear. Now, I can see this being a problem on Ultimate Team, with bronze players who don’t necessarily have any skills, but hopefully they’ll have that sorted.

As we all know, the Player Impact Engine was introduced with FIFA 12 to make tackles and collisions more realistic, from how the players fall to the ground when tackled or their interactions with each other when fighting to win the ball. The Impact Engine wasn’t as successful as expected – it was mainly a disappointment, especially for FIFA players due to the crazy reactions from players whenever they were tackled. There are a series of videos on YouTube where you can watch these Impact Engine fails, so just search for “FIFA 12 Impact Engine Fail” if you want to see any of them.
Anyways, let’s not talk about FIFA 12, but get back to FIFA 13. In FIFA 13, EA Sports have improved the Player Impact Engine by expanding its features. Defenders now push-and-pull for position when battling for the ball, and use their size and strength to win possession or force the opponents to make poor touches and decisions before the ball arrives. I’m guessing strength will be more important in FIFA 13 Ultimate Team than it was in FIFA 12, but I think it will be a good addition.

Now, to all you frenzy free kick takers out there – EA haven’t forgotten about you! FIFA 13 will bring a completely new Tactical Free Kicks feature! The Tactical Free Kicks will provide you the tools to create dangerous and unpredictable free kicks taking use of the most skillful players on the pitch. You can now position up to three attacking players over the ball and make dummy runs and bring more passing options to create elaborate free kicks. But hold your horses! Don’t think the Tactical Free Kicks will just make it easier for you when you’re attacking, because you can use it for defending, too. As a defender you can counter the opponents’ free kick moves by adding or subtracting players to the wall, moving the wall forward (and not just sideways like in previous FIFA releases) or send a defender forward to block any pass or shots that might be taken.

Other than that, FIFA 13 will also feature:

• Improved Career Mode with major changes developed in response to requests from the most passionate fans of the franchise.

• New features to enhance the massive EA SPORTS FIFA online offering, including improvements to the wildly popular Head-To-Head Seasons mode.

• Multiple new features and benefits to EA SPORTS Football Club, the live service that is the heartbeat of FIFA.

• Complete authenticity with more than 500 officially licensed clubs.

Conclusion

To be honest, I have never been more excited for a FIFA release than I am at the moment. I have played FIFA for several years and have experiences a lot of new features, but I have to say that these are some of the best, for now. Additional new modes and features will be announced in the months ahead, so we have a lot more to look forward to!

What do you think of what you’ve learned about FIFA 13 so far? Please tweet your opinions to us at @FIFANOWcom or join our discussions on our forums. If you want to get in contact with me, you can tweet me at @FN_Meetii.